


Nightmare Confession

by sophisticus



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-04
Updated: 2017-08-04
Packaged: 2018-12-11 00:06:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11702652
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sophisticus/pseuds/sophisticus
Summary: When Elisa went to the Conclave, she wasn't expecting it to blow up. She wasn't expecting to gain the Anchor, or be dragged into the Inquisition and be forced to postpone her own mission. She wasn't expecting to have to fight Gray Wardens at Adamant Fortress, and she wasn't expecting an impromptu trip into the Fade.Most of all, she wasn't expecting her true identity to be laid bare by the nightmare demon for everybody to hear.





	Nightmare Confession

Wind ripped past Elisa as she freefell. The roars of Corypheus’ dragon still echoed in her ears as the blinding green light of the rift faded, and her heart rose to her throat as she realized the ground was rising up to meet her, fast. The Inquisitor squeezed her eyes shut, certain she was about to become a red splatter on the rock-

One heartbeat passed. Two. Elisa opened her eyes to find herself hovering maybe two feet away from the ground. She reached out a hand in wonder, but before she could touch the rock, gravity kicked back in. She dropped gracelessly on the ground with a grunt and narrowly avoided biting her tongue at the impact.

Similar thuds and grunts around her told her that her companions had landed in a similar fashion. As she stood and brushed the grime off her jacket and armor, she looked up to find Hawke and Stroud standing, not on the rocky ground, but _sideways_ on the nearly vertical surface of some spires of rock.

“Where are we?” Stroud demanded. His eyes met hers, and he looked as perplexed to be sideways as Elisa was _seeing_ him sideways.

“We were falling,” Hawke mused, looking around carefully. In the dim green light, her already pale face looked washed out and sickly. “If this is the afterlife, the Chantry owes me an apology. This looks _nothing_ like the Maker’s bosom.”

“No, this is the Fade.” Solas stepped forward, eyes wide with shock or excitement, Elisa couldn’t tell. She looked out in the direction of his gaze, and finally really took in their surroundings.

The ground seemed to be made of sand and light gravel scattered over uneven black rock, which rose around them in either short cliffs or jagged spires which reached up into the greenish sky. More of the rock floated in the distance, some in pieces barely the size of a horse, some in great boulders easily the size of Skyhold. In the distance, a massive statue of Andraste hovered, slowly rotating on the spot, her carved hands still outstretched in front of her blank face. Behind it all, Elisating shimmering bright green light over the roiling clouds that surrounded it, was something she could only describe as a second Breach.

Behind her, Varric whistled. “Would you look at that.”

Elisa turned and followed his nod – far in the distance, opposite of the rip in the Veil leading back to the waking world, was a fortress. High black stone walls, parapets that looked ready to impale any intruder, all on its own mountain-sized boulder, floating unattainably high and far away…it could be none other than the Black City itself.

“The Inquisitor opened a rift. We fell through…and _survived_!” Solas exclaimed. “I never expected to find myself here physically…the Black City is almost close enough to touch.”

“At least _one_ of us is excited to be here,” Elisa bit off.

The elf ignored the barb. “What spirit commands this place?” he asked instead. “I have never seen anywhere like it.”

“It’s not how I remember the Fade, either. Perhaps it’s because we’re here physically, instead of just dreaming?” Hawke suggested. She gingerly walked down the boulder she stood sideways on, until she was on level ground with the Inquisitor. Across from them, Stroud did the same. “The stories say you walked out of the Fade at Haven. Was it like this?”

“Just give me a minute,” Elisa hissed. Physically in the Fade – of all the shitty situation’s she’d gotten into over the years, this had to be the worst.

“Well, whatever happened in Haven, we can’t assume we’re safe now,” Hawke sighed. “That huge demon was right on the other side of that rift that Erimond was using. And there could be others.”

“In our world, the rift the demons came through was nearby, in the main hall,” Stroud added. “Can we escape the same way?”

Elisa stared out at the gleaming rip in the Veil…which could possibly be their only escape from this hell. “Anything’s better than sitting here waiting for demons to pick us off, right? Let’s go.” She picked up her bow from where it’d fallen on the ground, slid it onto her back, and strode off before looking to see if anybody was following.

They trudged through the Fade, wending their way around spires of rock and through puddles of something that looked like water but Elisa didn’t want to take the gamble on. Occasionally they spotted flickering lights or lumbering shadows, but they always disappeared the moment they tried to focus on them.

“We should not be here,” Cassandra said to Elisa in a low voice.

“No shit,” the Inquisitor grunted.

 

One hour, a surprise visit from the Divine, and a handful of recovered memories later, Elisa was nearly ready to snap. Her companions had grown quiet, each contemplating the revelations they’d all just had, but Elisa couldn’t stop replaying her recovered memories over in her head. The _Wardens_ had been responsible for the Divine’s death? She knew that Corypheus had been controlling them through the taint in their blood, but to see it firsthand was even more unnerving.

Before she could get too lost in thought, however, she was shaken out of her reverie by a chilling voice.

“Ah, we have a visitor.”

Elisa’s head snapped up. It couldn’t be…

“Some silly little girl comes to steal the fear I lifted from her shoulders. You should’ve thanked me and left your fear where it lay, forgotten.”

Varric swore. “That’s Corypheus’ voice.”

Sure enough, it was. As if it knew they knew, all of them could hear the cruel smirk in the voice as it continued. “You think the pain will make you stronger? What fool filled your mind with such drivel? The only one who grows stronger from your fear, is _me._ But you are a guest here in my home, so by all means, let me return what you have forgotten.”

Elisa focused on blocking out the voice as they pressed deeper into the Fade, towards the rift which never seemed to draw any closer even as kilometer after kilometer passed by under their boots. An arrow remained nocked on her bowstring, ready to be drawn as she continued, alert for any demons.

They managed another twenty minutes of tense silence, still not a demon or spirit to be seen, before the nightmare demon wearing Corypheus’ voice spoke again.

“Perhaps _I_ should be afraid, facing the most powerful members of the Inquisition.” It laughed softly, and the sound made Elisa’s skin crawl. “Your Inquisitor is a fraud, Cassandra. Yet more evidence there is no Maker, and your ‘faith’ has been for naught.”

Elisa shot a look at the warrior. Her face tightened at the words, but her words were steady as she replied “Die in the void, demon.”

Not for the first time, she admired the Nevarran’s inner strength and steadfastness even under the psychological barrage.

“Dirth ma, harellan,” the nightmare demon crooned. Though Elisa didn’t understand the dialogue, she recognized the language. She turned to Solas in time to see his already pale face losing what little color it had. “Ma banal enasalin. Mar solas ena mar din.”

“Banal nadas,” the elf bit out. Something told her his reply was something along the lines of ‘shut your damn mouth’, but likely less polite.

Undeterred, the demon moved on. “Once again, Hawke is in danger because of you, Varric. You found the red lyrium. You brought Hawke here.”

“Just keep talking, Smiley,” the dwarf said quietly, clenching his crossbow more tightly. Hawke laid a hand reassuringly on his shoulder, and he shot her a grateful but subdued smile.

It was Hawke’s turn for the demon’s scrutiny. “Did you think you mattered, Hawke? Did you think anything you ever did mattered?” it wondered aloud. “You couldn’t even save your city. How could you expect to strike down a god? When Fenris hears of the dangers you’ve put yourself in, he _will_ come all the way here. And when he does, he will die. Just like your family, and everybody else you’ve ever loved.”

“I’m going to enjoy killing this thing,” Hawke said grimly. It was Varric’s turn to give her a reassuring pat on the elbow.

Undeterred, the demon continued. “Warden Stroud. How must it feel to devote your whole life to the Wardens, only to watch them fall? Or worse, to know that you were responsible for their destruction? When the next Blight comes, will they curse your name?”

Stroud seemed inclined to ignore the demon altogether. “With the Maker’s blessing, we will end this wretched beast.”

Finally, the nightmare demon wearing Corypheus’ voice fell silent. Just when they thought it finished toying with them, it spoke again. This time, its words sent icy fingers straight down Elisa’s spine.

“You seem to have _so_ much in common with your dear spymaster, Leliana. So many secrets kept by and between you,” the demon mused. “You’re fortunate she’s so loyal to you. Keeping your secret even from your closest friend Cassandra… How long can you keep it up, commander of the Inquisition? Or should I say, Commander of the Grey?”

Elisa froze in place. _Shit._

“What is it talking about, what secret?” Cassandra demanded. Elisa felt her stomach settle somewhere around the vicinity of her ankles. Everyone stared at her, expressions ranging from curiosity to disbelief. Behind the Nevarran, she locked eyes with Stroud, who was shaking his head slowly.

“How many times have you answered to Trevelyan, instead of _Cousland?_ ” She could hear the triumph in the demon’s voice. _Shit shit shit._

“You’re-” Cassandra seemed to have difficulty speaking, as she ogled the Inquisitor. Varric seemed similarly speechless, while Solas and Hawke simply looked surprised.

It was Stroud who finally broke the silence. “Warden-Commander Cousland,” he said softly.

Elisa swallowed past her heart hammering in her throat. “Yes.”

“Why?” Varric finally asked.

 _Why did you lie to us? Why did you hide your identity? Why didn’t you trust us?_ All the questions she knew they were thinking bombarded her – questions she’d asked herself dozens of times over in the past six months.

Hawke eyed her appraisingly, and she suspected the apostate would have some words for her as well as Stroud regarding the Warden’s involvement in the Divine’s death.

Elisa shook her head. “Look, I promise I’ll answer whatever questions you have,” she said tersely. “Right now we have a demon to slay and the Fade to escape. Can we _please_ focus on that first?”

None of her five companions looked happy about it, but after a moment they all murmured assent. They trudged off again, though now she could feel every single pair of eyes boring into her back. Not for the first time, she cursed the nightmare demon, Corypheus, the Fade, and her own damned nosiness that led her to be at the Conclave in the first place.

**Author's Note:**

> "Write a one shot based in HLTA," they said. "It'll be neat," they said. IT'S A LONG QUEST MICAH HOW DO I MAKE THIS INTO A ONE-SHOT


End file.
